Alex Wallash - Founder The Rare Barrel

The Rare Barrel has become one of the country's foremost producers of sour beer.  That's no surprise if you've had the opportunity to try their beer - it's clean but just funky enough, it's purposeful, and the fruited offerings beautifully display all of the best in the fruits they use.  Batch after batch, The Rare Barrel is consistently impressing thanks to their willingness to dump bad beer and only use the best their massive barrel collection has to offer.  Just last year, the brewery dumped 25% of its stock because of a fluke off flavor that just wouldn't go away.  Rather than attempt to blend away this imperfection, the guys decided that to live up to their standard the only viable option was to dump.  And dump they did.  Hundreds of gallons of beer were poured down the drain.  Doing things like this ensures that when anyone walks in to the brewery they are going to love what is poured in to their glass or is in the bottle they are taking home.  Even more importantly, it protects and furthers the cause which is sour beer by providing quality and consistency with a style that is only now in its infancy here in the states.  Please enjoy our chat (even the "interlude") and grab some Rare Barrel to drink while you do!

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Jeff Mello - Bootleg Biology

Homebrewing and small scale experimentation is pushing the envelope in brewing.  The lack of a production schedule and a required consistent core line-up allows small scale non-professional brewers and some pro brewers to explore technique, develop styles, and go out and find yeast cultures that most pro brewers don't have the time or ability to play with.  Jeff is one of those homebrewers turned "yeast wizard" that is pushing beer forward.  Culturing wild yeast, working to catalog yeast in every zip code and internationally, and most importantly, reminding brewers to constantly evolve and learn.  He's a steward of the craft and for all the right reasons.  This chat was fun and insightful but most of all, inspirational.  Jeff was a reminder of why craft beer has become such a large part of our lives and why we're excited to see what breweries that make the time and space for exploration in yeast and fermentation are going to come up with next.  If you brew, check out Jeff's site.  Buy the yeast wrangling kit. Buy one his proprietary cultures.  Brew a beer completely unique to yourself.  Contribute to his project and be a part of brewing history.  Most of all, explore the craft - the sky's the limit.

Cheers,

Craft Commander